Retired generals urge Obama to keep Gitmo promise

In a letter to the president, 27 former military leaders call for renewed efforts to close the facility

BY NATASHA LENNARD

27 retired military generals and admirals signed their names to a letter Tuesday, urging President Obama to follow through on his four year-old promise to close the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo.

Last week the White House threatened to veto a new version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which in its current form could impose prisoner transfer restrictions that may compromise plans to close the facility. Last year, Obama threatened a veto over similar objections but backed down and signed the act into law. As such, retired top military brass are urging a redoubling of efforts to close the camp. The letter, organized by Human Rights First, noted:

There remains a clear path to closing Guantanamo during the second term of your presidency. Detainees who have been unanimously cleared for transfer by the interagency taskforce, which included all the relevant security and intelligence agencies, should be transferred. Detainees who have allegedly committed crimes should face civilian trials in federal courts or an appropriate foreign jurisdiction. Although your administration continues to hold law of war detainees without charge or trial, under the laws of war they may be held only while hostilities are ongoing. We are approaching the end of the war in Afghanistan and the Secretary of Defense has said that the United States is “within reach of strategically defeating Al Qaeda.” Your administration should now turn its attention to what it will take to combat terrorism over the long term.

Human Rights First has put forward an updated Blueprint on how to close Guantanamo in President Obama’s second-term.

2. He can't do anything because he is a victim of the Republicans?

At a minimum, as the President and commander-in-chief, he could start making noise about closing the Kentucky portion of Fort Campbell (located in both Tennessee and Kentucky) in the interest of greater efficiency.

If Mitch McConnell and others did not get the message, he could take action to start doing so.

4. Stop it ...

Just, stop it! Yes ... In our system of government, a President can be stopped from doing what he wants because of an opposition party.

Obama’s pledge to shutter the Guantánamo Bay military prison was one of his biggest campaign promises in 2008, and he signed an executive order his first week in office to close the military facility on Cuban soil.

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But in the face of fierce opposition in Congress from Republicans, Obama backed away from his attempts to close the facility and move the terrorism trials from military commissions into federal courts.

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House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said that bipartisan opposition prevented the administration from closing the prison when Democrats held majorities in both chambers of Congress.

“If he wants to try again, that is his choice,” McKeon, who has helped lead GOP efforts to block transfers of Gitmo detainees in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), said in a statement to The Hill.